Synopsis
In preparation for Exercise Defender 23, the US Army is cracking open warehouses in Europe full of prepositioned vehicles, weapons and other equipment.
In Zutendaal, Belgium, the US Army’s Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux prepared and loaded equipment onto commercial transporters bound for Romania for Exercise Defender 23. This includes float bridge systems, boats and bridge transporters. All this equipment will be given to the 50th Multi-Role Bridge Company, which is coming from the US, and it will be used in a wet-gap crossing that is led by a Romanian multinational division during Exercise Defender 23.
The Army Prepositioned Stock programme is a cornerstone of the US Army’s ability to quickly deploy soldiers to Europe and collect equipment that's ready to go. This means the largest land force in NATO can arrive in Europe and become combat-ready on much shorter notice, in support of NATO Allies and their partners, should a crisis occur.
Exercise Defender 23 is a US Army-led exercise that focuses on the strategic deployment of United States-based forces, employment of Army Prepositioned Stocks and development of shared tactics and procedures with NATO Allies and their partners. The exercise takes place from 22 April to 23 June.
Footage includes shots of US Army equipment and vehicles being maintained in the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite and float bridge systems being loaded onto commercial transporters, as well as soundbites from the commander of the Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux and the site director at the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS - A US ARMY HUMVEE PULLING OUT OF THE MAINTENANCE DEPOT AT THE ZUTENDAAL APS-2 WORKSITE IN BELGIUM
(00:15) VARIOUS SHOTS - A US ARMY HUMVEE BEING DIRECTED TO THE MAINTENANCE DEPOT AT THE ZUTENDAAL APS-2 WORKSITE IN BELGIUM
(00:31) VARIOUS SHOTS - PERSONNEL IN THE ZUTENDAAL APS-2 WORKSITE MAINTAINING A US ARMY HUMVEE
(00:44) VARIOUS SHOTS - A FORKLIFT UNLOADING EQUIPMENTS FROM A US ARMY TRUCK
(01:05) VARIOUS SHOTS - US ARMY HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCK (HEMTT) OFFLOADING THE FLOAT BRIDGE SYSTEM FOR A MULTI-ROLE BRIDGE COMPANY.
(01:35) VARIOUS SHOTS - US ARMY HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCK (HEMTT) OFFLOADING THE FLOAT BRIDGE SYSTEM FOR A MULTI-ROLE BRIDGE COMPANY ONTO A CIVILIAN TRANSPORT TRUCK
(01:56) VARIOUS SHOTS - US ARMY HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCK (HEMTT) CARRYING THE FLOAT BRIDGE SYSTEM FOR A MULTI-ROLE BRIDGE COMPANY
(02:05) VARIOUS SHOTS - US ARMY HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCK (HEMTT) OFFLOADING THE FLOAT BRIDGE SYSTEM FOR A MULTI-ROLE BRIDGE COMPANY ONTO A CIVILIAN TRANSPORT TRUCK
(02:30) VARIOUS SHOTS - US ARMY HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCK (HEMTT) BEING LOADED ONTO CIVILIAN TRANSPORT TRUCK
(02:45) VARIOUS SHOTS - STOCKPILES OF US ARMY HEAVY EXPANDED MOBILITY TACTICAL TRUCKS (HEMTT), HUMVEES AND TRANSPORTING VEHICLES PARKED IN A WAREHOUSE
(03:10) VARIOUS SHOTS - US ARMY TANK TRANSPORTER TRACTORS OSHKOSH M1070 AND TRAILERS PARKED IN THE ZUTENDAAL APS-2 WORKSITE IN BELGIUM
(03:19) SOUNDBITE - LIEUTENANT COLONEL BLAKE SMITH - BATTALION COMMANDER, ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BATTALION-BENELUX, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“Army prepositioned stock supports directly to NATO and our other partners and Allies here on the continent, providing options for a rapid response as part of our strategic response triad.”
(03:32) SOUNDBITE - LIEUTENANT COLONEL BLAKE SMITH - BATTALION COMMANDER, ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BATTALION-BENELUX, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“Army prepositioned stock is a readiness measure for the US Army in the theatre assuring NATO and our Allies that we'll be ready and that also acts as a deterrence to any adversary seeing the capability that's already here in theatre.”
(03:48) SOUNDBITE - LIEUTENANT COLONEL BLAKE SMITH - BATTALION COMMANDER, ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BATTALION-BENELUX, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“People here at Zutendaal and Eygelshoven as part of Battalion-Benelux are really critical to that support to both NATO and our partners and Allies here. That team is keeping this equipment at a readiness level to be able to respond at a moment's notice.”
(04:04) SOUNDBITE - LIEUTENANT COLONEL BLAKE SMITH - BATTALION COMMANDER ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BATTALION-BENELUX, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“The rapid response capability allows army planners to really reduce the deployment timeline because it's much quicker than having to ship things from the continental United States into the theatre.”
(04:16) SOUNDBITE - LIEUTENANT COLONEL BLAKE SMITH - BATTALION COMMANDER ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BATTALION-BENELUX, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“So soldiers rapidly responding from and deploying from the continental United States fall in on equipment that's ready to go. It's configured for combat, right to be able to do their mission wherever they're going to be issued this equipment.”
(04:30) SOUNDBITE - LIEUTENANT COLONEL BLAKE SMITH - BATTALION COMMANDER ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BATTALION-BENELUX, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“Zutendaal APS site is going to play a huge role in Defender 23 this year. We've got predominantly going out from this site is the Multi-role Bridge Company, which you can see some pieces here behind me. This is shipping down to Romania and will fall in and be issued to a unit coming out of the continental United States there for employment in the exercise.”
(04:53) SOUNDBITE - TIFFANY MIKUS - SITE DIRECTOR ZUTENDAAL APS-2 WORKSITE, 405TH ARMY FIELD SUPPORT BRIGADE, US ARMY
“It's important that we are always ready. Our mission is to provide rapid assurance and deployment capabilities across the theatre. So continuous readiness is extremely important so that we can deploy it on a moment's notice.”
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